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Give My Deposit Back

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Massachusetts security deposit demand letter

This is the body of the letter, with your details in brackets. Sentences marked "Only if" appear only when your answers match. The letter is sent in your name.

I was a tenant at [rental address]. I paid a security deposit of $[deposit amount]. My tenancy ended on [tenancy end date], and I moved out on that date.

Under Massachusetts General Laws chapter 186, section 15B(4), a landlord must return the security deposit, or any balance of it, within thirty days after the termination of occupancy under a tenancy at will, or the end of the tenancy as specified in a valid written lease. If the landlord deducts for damage, the landlord must within the same thirty days give the tenant an itemized list of the damage, sworn to under the pains and penalties of perjury, together with written evidence of the cost of repair such as estimates, bills, invoices, or receipts.

More than thirty days have passed since my tenancy ended.

[Only if nothing returned] I have not received my deposit.[Only if partial return] I received $[amount returned] on [date returned]. I have not received the balance.[Only if no itemized list] I have not received an itemized list of damages.

Section 15B(6) provides that a landlord who fails to return the deposit or balance, with interest, within thirty days after the tenancy ends, or who fails to provide the itemized list required by the statute within that time, forfeits the right to retain any portion of the deposit for any reason, and the right to counterclaim for any damage to the premises.

Section 15B(7) provides that when a landlord fails to return the deposit or balance within thirty days after the tenancy ends, the tenant shall be awarded damages equal to three times the amount of the deposit or balance to which the tenant is entitled, plus interest at five percent from the date payment was due, together with court costs and reasonable attorney's fees.

I am requesting the return of my security deposit, together with any interest due on it under section 15B.

Statute: M.G.L. c. 186, § 15B. Read the statute.

Last reviewed: October 2026